


Swimming Lesson

by digitalsoop



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 10:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3525368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitalsoop/pseuds/digitalsoop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke finds out that Gou still doesn't know how to swim, and she has a million excuses for why she just can't get in that pool.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swimming Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt fill originally posted on Tumblr. You could take this as friendship or romance, I just like Sousuke and Gou together.

Gou stood at the edge of the pool, curling her toes against the cement. She had spent plenty of time loitering around the edge, years worth of time, really. It was where she preferred to be when it came to water. Strange, considering she had always lived so close to the ocean; considering her brother and friends were all competitive swimmers; even her mother swam, though not as much as she used to, and only for her health.

If there was a reason that Gou didn’t know how to swim, she couldn’t put blame on anyone, or put it into believable words; there hadn’t been time; there had been no interest; it had never seemed urgent; valid reasons, acceptable excuses, but they didn’t seem to fit. Sousuke agreed. She had listed all of those reasons and he had brushed them away. There was no reason she couldn’t learn now, he pointed out. Cold and very exposed—even though she was in a one-piece swimsuit—it would have been better if she had lied when he had asked if she had ever learned to swim.

Why of course I have, Sousuke, what do you take me for? A baby?

But there were babies that could swim.

That lie would have quickly fallen apart and brought her right to the edge of the pool anyway, with Sousuke standing in the water with his hands on his hips. He had waded up and down the length of the pool, sank to his knees to blow bubbles, and floated to and fro on his back, gently kicking his feet to get around. There wasn’t anything left for him to do while she fretted outside of the water.

"You could at least stand in here with me."

"The water is cold."

"It’s not that bad, since it’s indoors." He swirled the water in front of him with his hand. "Besides, the only water you’ve felt is the puddle you’ve been standing in."

"Well, it’s a puddle of pool water so it’s the same, right?" She crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling. "I have entrance exams to worry about this year, so I can’t get sick."

"You’re inside," he repeated. The water sloshed as he strode to the side of the pool. Gou lifted a foot in as dainty a manner as possible to avoid the flood of water that ran off of his arms and hands. She shivered when the water hit her toes; it was warmer than her puddle. He tilted is head and crossed his arms on the concrete. "Why do you not want to get in?"

She pursed her lips and he spread his fingers, ripples moving across the little puddle. He raised his eyebrows. “Are you scared?”

"I don’t know."

"I’ll be right here with you."

"I know."

He patted the cement with one hand and held out the other. “Come on. At least put your feet in.”

If it had been her brother coaxing her, she would have hesitated. If it had been Nagisa she would have been five feet away from the edge of the pool as soon as he got close. But because it was Sousuke she sat down, grabbed his hand, and plunged her feet into the water. His hand was hot. He ducked his head when she squeezed his fingers and grumbled about the chill, sliding off the edge of the pool and into the water.

Her legs kicked, her toes scraped the bottom, and Sousuke lifted his hand and hoisted her up, slipping an arm around her waist. “You can at least float, right?”

"It’s not hard," she stammered, kicking her feet when he tilted her back so she could float on her back. Water filled her ears and crept towards her eyes, but Sousuke squeezed her hand and she bobbed upwards, blinking up at the lights. Her heart pounded. She pulled his hand closer, and closed her eyes. Everything was muffled. Everything was quiet and roaring at once.

"Gou, hey. Don’t cry." Sousuke frowned, using the back of their clasped hands to brush her cheek. "It isn’t scary."

"It isn’t scary," Gou mumbled. But her shoulders shook and she had to squint through tears to see Sousuke’s face. "It isn’t scary."

"Right." He smiled and took her other hand, pulling her along behind him. "I’m right here."

She sniffled and lightly kicked her feet. “Hey, Sousuke.”

"Hm."

"The water is so quiet."

"Yeah. Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes it’s just what I need to clear my head." He turned, looking over his shoulder to make sure he wouldn’t pull her into a wall. "You could probably swim on your own.”

"No way."

"It must be in your blood. Or maybe you learned through osmosis," he laughed.

"Definitely not!" Drops of water hit her face after a frantic kick. "You can’t let go okay?"

He nodded and looked down at her, his smile gone. “I won’t let go. I promise. I’ll hold your hands for the rest of the night, alright?”

"How long do you plan on making me stay in the water?" she grumbled.

"Why do I have to stop when you’re out of the water?" he countered.

"Because—well, I have to study you know!"

"I don’t mind. I’ll just sleep next to you while you study."

"I mind—man, stop teasing me, I’m trying to concentrate here!"

"Alright, alright. Focus hard on getting pulled around the pool, okay?" Sousuke laughed, crouching down so he could kick off the bottom of the pool and coast along with her. Gou wanted to reach up and touch his face—to slap him or not, she wasn’t sure. But at least the water didn’t seem so quiet.


End file.
